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NOTS AND OOiiENTS.

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NOTS AND OOiiENTS. Notwithstanding the '"pooh-pooha" Wd the supercilious attitude of some of 0he wise^res who declared that there was no prospect of a contest in the L Hliond!h the School Board election has jome upor. us like an avalanche, sweep- ing everything before it. If you ask a RhonuJ. ratepayer anything about the war, he will immediately begin to talk about fv.-Iiool Board matters. Quite fight. to >. The "home" matters of the Largest parish in Wales are of infinitely greater importance to us than the quibble which have been used as a pre- tence leading the country to the ^verge cc war. The School Board's affairs ;t::cct the interests of every home md every' parent and every child in the listrict fT the present and for all time. One of the best features of these elec- tions u* cur district is the good-feeling which -valls among the candidates, as a rule, and between the sets of sup- porters 0t the various candidates. Even 1 h jWhere sectarianism crops in, as it- Aperhaf,4 ziecessar.,i-,r--does sometimes, there is tittle, if any, of the bitterness notice;here which unfortunately ^fprevaild in similar elections at many other pLvies. We are not reminding our- selves, others, of these things in k»Fder to thank God that we are not ai other :en," but simply mentioning a .satisfactory feature which helps to con- vert "rights" into "races." Hence, we shall, in the short period at our disposal ^between his and the election day-next I Saturday week—call on our Sporting Prophet and his co-adjutors, the turf correspondents, as usual, to avail 'themselves of their little opportunities 4ito shine before men in their respective lipeculiar capacities. i' It is satisfactory to find that the ad- vance in wages declared by the Sliding audit, on Saturday, is just what had bee^ expected by the men's leaders. The work, in so far as the receiving of -that audit was concerned, was, of course, purely formal, and yet it is what fixes .the attention of the outside public, al- most to the entire exclusion of what was, after all, the principal business of \the Sliding Scale Committee that day, <sjviz., the discussion of questions arising 'out of local disputes at individual col- lieries- These disputes have been pret- t'ty frequent of late, and are likely to become more and more frequent as time .goes on. Hitherto they have, with one or two notable exceptions, been settled ■ very promptly by the arbitrators to iwhom they were referred by the Joint ComnÜtee. As will be seen on perus- ing the report of the joint meeting held on Saturday,one of the exceptions is that of the dispute at the Penrhiw Colliery, but as yet the concern has not been sufficiently opened out by the present owners to make it an important matter to outsiders. With regard to the Albion I dispute (formally referred to arbitra- tors on Saturday), the question to be tors on Saturday), the question to be decided is the identity of a new seam of I t coal that has been struck. The No. 1 District of the South Wales Miners' I Association (known as Mabon's district), i had taken up the matter, as the colliery is in tliat district, and Mr Daronwy Isaac Lid been at the colliery in the in- t teresta of the workmen. Now, Mr W. Jenkins, J.P., of the Ocean Colliery Company, and Mr W. Brace will have to go thoroughly into it, and it is to be hoped the dispute will not assume the I proportions which the same question did l over a different seam some years ago, when the comparison between that and the Ynysvbwl seam was the knotty point. By the bye, the opening out of this new seam will involve the introduc- tion of a number of additional workmen at the Albion, as there are not too many now employed to deal with other and older portions of the colliery. -0- Please count them upon your finger- tips. There are at least five big ques- tions to be faced by the Pontypridd Dis- trict Council: — (1)—A Grave Question-tlitt, of tak- | ing over the duties of the Burial | Board; (2}-A Burning Question—that of i cheapening and popularising the | gas supply, which involves much J to be inquired into f (3)—A Moving Question—that of the i present opposition of the Council to the Tramway Extension Scheme, and the purchase of the rails and rolling-stock by the ) Council; 1 j (4)—A Pocket Question—that of the i Consolidation of Rates for the I purpose of saving cost in collec- tion and b (5)—The Great Drink Question—;1>. U i of the purchase of the W f j works. We have heard of them for years, and will probably hear much more of them in the near future. t -0-- New County Court Offices were j opened at Ystrad on Monday, in James's f. Lll. Our old friend, Mr C. J. John, wh<> was Î\.l' over 20 years at the Ponty- pridd office?, has been appointed chief clerk of the establishment, and all ar- rangements have been completed for entering and searching, etc. The new offices will afford considerable facilities to a large number of the inhabitants in the upper part of the Rhondda, who pre- viously had to travel to Pontypridd for the transaction of county court business. -0-- Welt w the fore in postal matters, Pontypridd invariably expects the quick- pi cst and the Lest. It will, therefore, merely elevate its cyL-brows when its in- habitants read the following item, fully believing that if there is any value in the suggestion, the Pontypridd postmas- ter will forthwith act upon .it: "A new development in postal deliveries is being tried at Grantham, where, in order to serve a group of villages, covering a cir- cuit of several miles, the Post-office has established a cycle post, A mounted postman loves the Giantham head post- office daily at 12.30 p.m., taking letters and parcels for delivery in Little Pon- ton, Grea.t Ponton, Rochford, Colster- worth, Stainby, Sewstern, Buckminster, and Skillington. The bicycle is spe- cially constructed for postal purposes, and is enamelled in "pillar-box red." The prompt delivery by this means is highly appreciated in the district served." Since the Treorky choirs appeared before Her Majesty the Queen, every- thing that pertains to Royalty is of ex- ceptional interest to the people of the Rhondda. Well, then, round the Queen this autumn, an unusually large num- ber of her children and grandchildren will gather. At Balmoral she has her little York great-grandchildren, as well as the three younger children of Prin- cess Henry of Battenberg; while the Duke and Duchess of York are already on a visit there. This year she has been deprived of the companionship of Prin- cess Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, who is in Germany with Princess Christian, but the Hereditary Prince and Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg have arrived, the latter being, of course, the daughter of the Duke of Coburg. Her Majesty has not yet seen their small son, in whom she is naturally interested, and she is anxious, moreover, to talk over the sub- ject of the Duke of Albany's education with the Hereditary Prince of Hohen- lohe-Langenburg, who has been appoin- ted guardian of the young Prince. "Sop" for workingmen comes from all quarters, but Archbishop Temple com- bines the true description with the "ex- tra" thickening to such an extent as to make him worth quoting even to work- ingmen- In a recent address he said there was so much that was generous, so much that was unselfish, so much that was affectionate in that class, that it was impossible not to recognise there were very few who could compete with the working man in his unselfishness as regarded his own people, and very few who could compete with the unsel- fishness which characterised the poor in their relations with one another. The charity that took the form of giving pe- cuniary aid was more conspicuous in the upper classes, as they were called, than in the lower; but when they came to look at it dosely, it was far more general and far more self-sacrificing in the lower classes than anywhere else. In pro- portion to what they had to give the poor gave a great deal more than those who had a great deal. a 1900 not Leap Year, and we, are still going ahead in the race against Time! The solar year consists of 365 days 5 hours and 4 minutes. To ba- lance the extra hours and minutes an additional day is counted in every fourth year, but we are 44 minutes behind time upon this basis, or, in other words, the sun is gaining upon us to that extent every four years. At the close of the century we find that we have lost 6 hours and 24 minutes, but we do not have a leap year at the end of certain centuries for the very reason that then we should, through the extra day, be rushing ahead to the extent of 17 hours 36 minutes. Therefore, in order to restore the time equilibrium, we permit the losing pro- cess to go on for four centuries by omit- ting a leap year at the end of each of three centuries. Accepting the closing year of the fourth century as a leap year, we have so far recovered ourselves as to be only 96 minutes behind time in 400 years. The four centuries are calcula- ted from 1600 to 2000 A.D. -0- Ours is a country upon which the sun never sets, and in which the Rate-Col- lector and the School Attendance Officer never go to sleep, and yet we can afford to take points from Yankee- land. The "Children's Court" which has been established by the Illinois Legis- lature is an experiment that will be worth watching. Heretofore the law has made no distinction between juve- nile criminals and adult criminals, with the result that magistrates have often! exercised a discretion in dealing with youthful offenders that the law did not sanction. The Illinois Legislature has attempted to correct this practice by the establishment of a separate court for the trial of offenders less than 16 years old, and by adoption of a code suited to this class. Under this scheme no child under 12 years of age can be arrested or held in a police station. A place of de- tention for children must be specially provided, and when children are to be brought into court it must be by sum- mons served on their parents or guard- ians. Wide discretion is then allowed magistrates in dealing with youthful' offenders. --0- It had been thought just possible that our "unnecessary war" might have been averted, now that we had got clear of the month of September. Those who glory in War regard September as pe- culiarly the British War Month, and they point with pride to the singular fact that so many of the battles in which British arms have proved victorious were fought in the month of September. The "dogs of war" remind us that last year the pulse of the nation was beating 0 high with pardonable pride at the achievement of our troops in the Sou- dan, which culminated on September 2nd in the splendid victory at Omdur- man. In the early days of September, 1855, the country was in just such a state of anxiety as we experienced last vear. The British people were then feverishly awaiting news from the Cri- mea, where the greater portion of our army was engaged in laying siege to the Russian fortress of Sevastopol. News travelled slowly in those days, but at last our fathers heard that after months of toil and hardship British pluck and endurance had their reward in the fall of the stronghold on the 8th of Septem- ber. It was on the 14th of September, 1854, that our gallant army, comman- ded by Lord Raglan, landed on the shores of Crimea, and it was only a few days after, on the 20th of the same month, that the Russian hosts first met the allied army and suffered their first defeat at the Battle of the Alma. More recently still, it was in the grey dawn of early morning on the 13th of September, 1882, that Lord Wolsele/s army stormed the entrenchments of Tel-el- Kebir and scattered the army of Arabi Pacha to the four winds of the desert. It is pleasing to note that the special features of the "Chroniole" are attracting at urn, and eliciting compliments, not onl from all classes in this district, but also from men and women of distinction in various parts of Wales—yes, and America, New Zealand, and Africa, as we will be able to show later on. Writing with reference to the recent article on the birth-place of G^o son, the world-renowned (sculptor, the Rev. T. Gamon, of Fishguard—an eminent Welsh landscape painter-says:- "The incidents of an artist's life are always intensely interesting to me. I knew a little of Gibson's life—that he was a native of North Wales. (Was he a Welshman? 'Gib son,' of course, is English, his father must have been of English extraction), t.hat he and '^attained the highest position in his art- that he lived many years (the greatest and best part of his life) in Rome, and that he had died there. But it was news to me to learn he was in any way connected with the Baptist denomination. I shall be very tWankful for any furthe. contribution of yours on his life. It is strange (so it seems to me) that Wales has produced iiO few artists of eminence. There is another North Walian prominent in the world of art—Richard Wilson, "The WelA Claude Swaine." He was, if I right1 jr member, a native of Uanberis. e. too spent much of his time in Italy, iand followe to a great extent the Italian School of Land- scape Painting. Even South Wales can t, in having given to the world one excellent portrait painter, Thomas George, of Fish- guard. It is a pity that his should sink into utter oblivion. In his early d:;y he 'had to labour under great disadvantages but bv hard study and diligence, he attaine great proficiency, and produced perfect gem of art. He sank into an early grave in a foreign land, and may angels troop around and guard his grave until his ashes will be "K-kened by the blast of the Resurrectio Trump."

HAULING ACCIDENT AT PONTYPRIDD.

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HAULING ACCIDENT AT PONTYPRIDD. HORSE AND CART FALL DOWN AN EMBANKMENT. About half past seven n Saturday morn- ing a most unusual accident occurred on the Parade, opposite Cook's field on the Berw road. It appears that a haulier working for a. con- tractor named Cruch had backed his cart so as to tip out the ashes it contained over the steep enbankment, but by some means the wheels got on the brink of the I-jp. thtt when the cart was tilted up the combined weight of cart and load proved too much for the horse with the result that the cart slid down the en- bankment drawing the unfortunate horse back- wards with -it into the river. The poor animal was so badly injured that it had to be killed almost immediately.

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A Welsh demonstration will be held in con- nection with the coming Church Congress. The Bishop of Llandaff will preside, and papers will be read by the Bishop of St. Asaph, Sir John Puleston, and the Dean of St. David's. ,-M

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The Licensing Act. -

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The Licensing Act. PROSECUTION OF A CLYDACH VALE HOTEL KEEPER. At the Pentre Police Court on Monday, Mr Evans, landlord of the Bush Hotel, Clydach Vale, was summoned for keeping' his house open during prohibited hours on Monday evening, the 18th inst. Mr Joseph Henry Jones, Car- diff, defended. Sergeant Thomas, Pandy, de- posed that at 11.20 p.m. he, accompanied by P.C. Hawkins, entered the defendant's hotel. While they were in the passage he saw Miss Evans and the barmaid draw a glass of beer each and hand them through the pigeon hole to men who were standing there. The defendant was standing near the passage door. He came up to the officer, who immediately called his attention to the time. He told the defendant that he had seen two men being served with beer by the barmaid and Miss Evans. Tht barmaid remarked that she bad served a mam with beer, but had not received payment for it. The defendant disputed the accuracy of the officer's time, which was then 11.22 p.m. De- fendant produced his own watch, which showed the time to be 11.28 p.m. Defendant subse- quently informed the officer that a presenta- tion meeting had been held at the house that evening, ana he dared say about 500 persons were present. The officer, he said, knew very well that it was very difficult to get such a large number of people out in a few niin'utes.The officer replied that the defendant could net pos- sibly get them out if he allowed his servants to continue serving beer to them. There were about 50 persons in the house. The officer took the names of eight of them. Cross-examined by Mr J. H. Jones,: The officer admitted having heard that a meeting was held at the hotel that evening to present the leader of the Clydaoh Vale Male Voice Party with some gifts. The' long room where the meeting took place was a large one. He (witness) had been stationed in the district for over tour years. The defen- dant had been in the licensed victualler's busi- ness for the past 30 years. P.C. Hawkins gave corroborative evidence. The Stipendiary re- marked that inasmuch as Mr Evans had been a licensed victualler for 30 years, and had not been summoned previous to tbifl occasion, it was not likely that he had intentionally gone wrong that evening. Defendant was ordered to pay the costs, but there would be no convic- tion. With respect to the eight men whose names were taken by the officer the cases against them would be dropped. The Bench, however, considered that the police had done their duty satisfactorily, and that their reports were absolutely accurate.

-.--..------.-----.---. PONTYPRIDD…

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PONTYPRIDD SCHOOL BOARD. The ordinary meeting of the Pontypridd School Board was held at the Board Room, Gelliwasted, on Tuesday. The members present were Mr James Richards (chairman), Rev Joshua Thomas (vice-chairman), Messrs W. M. Jones, Rev Ll. Ll. Davies, Messrs W. M. Jones, W. Jones-Powell, Thomas Thcmas, J. W. John, with the clerk, Mr D. M. Jones. P.C. Nicholls, Norton Bridge, was awarded five shillings for giving information which led to the conviction of a lad wiio broke several panes of glass at the Norton Bridge School. j IU Jones-Powell in going through the ac- counts for which cheques were drawn that day thought more time should be spent in going through the accounts. He noticed that In no case was any discount allowed. He al ways obtained it himself. The Clerk replied that it had never been given or even offered except when they paid cash in a month. The Clerk reported that before that day's payments there was an overdraft of P,3,976 r. 149 8d at the bank, and after that day's pay- ments there would be an overdraft of £ 5,278 as 8d. They were now working into the next ) half-year and nothing had yet been received. The overdraft on the loan account was now JE779 15s. The Chairman remarked that the Board must do its best to curtail the ex- penditure in the different schools. They should not go in for any new work. A letter was read from Mr L. D, Nicholl, Swansea, saying that Captain Vaughan Leigh would sell the free-hold of the land on which Pullgwaun School is built at 30 years purchase. The annual rent was jS32 8s 4d, 30 years pur- chase being £ 972 10s. The Chairman was of opinion that it would be beneficial to purchase the land—Mr Jones-Powell thought it was a very heavy price, and it would be better if they were not to do at present. In the neai future the Government would probably promote a measure enabling public bodies to purchase their freehold at reasonable terms. Mr J. W. John concurred and the purchase of the land was indefinitely postponed. The Clerk of Works reported that the cost of the new coal-house at Norton Bridge, which was prepared from plans, was JE80. This he characterised as a disgraceful waste of public money, inasmuch as if the building had been erected by day work it would only have cost JE30. Resignations were received and accepted from the following ex-P.T.'s:—Misses Jessie Mabel Jones, Spraggon, and Pollie Jenes, and from Mr David James Davies, an assistant-master at the Graig School, who had obtained a County Council scholarship. Applications for teachers were received from several of the head-teachers, but the clerk sta- ted that no replies had been received in re- sponse to the Board's advertisements. The matter was left over until the next meeting.

ASSAULT ON A NELSON SERGEANT.

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ASSAULT ON A NELSON SERGEANT. At the Caerphilly Police Court on Tuesday before Mr David Davies (in the chair), and othei magistrates, Joseph Treasure, collier, Llan- bradach, was brought up in custody charged with assaulting P.S. Thomas Williams at Nel- son on the 20th ult. The sergeant in evidence said he saw the prisoner in company with a number of other men at Nelson. He was swearing, and generally disorderly. The officer remonstrated with him, when prisoner and Ins friends jumped into a fighting attitude. Trea- sure had a missile in his hand, which he threw at Sergeant Williams. Two other men came up, and felled the constable to the ground with a stone ,and while lying prostrate he was struck on the left breast by Treasure. Prisoner was fined 40s and costs, or a month's hard labour.

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Sir Samuel W,i; Griffith. G.C.M.G., Chief Justice of Queens!; r: who is a native of Mer- thvr, the « » font relational minister of that town, b i' vprjointed lieutenant Gov- ernor of This is how sor English papers prove to the satisfaction of the-r own editor" that the Bwr is a man to be easily whacked if war reallv (Joei break out. :If there is one -dish more than re another which a Boer likes it this: A srent square slice is cut off a loaf made of coarse, un- sifted meal, and Covered with a thick laver of jam—preferably strawberry. A row of sar- dines is then plmd on top, end the oil from the sardine box is liberally named over the whole. He calls -it a delicacy!"

Porth-Thursday.

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Porth-Thursday. Before Dr Ivor Lewis and Dr liunter. A SPRAT WHICH CAUGHT A MACKEREL. On the morning of the 15th inst., P.C. Luoas saw Thomas Noseworthy's, of Porth, dogs out straying without a muzzle. Upon investigation the constable also discovered that no licence had been taken out for the dog. A fine of 7a 6d and costs was imposed. EXPOSING INFECTIOUS DISEASES. George Bassett (40), Oak street, Ferndale, was summoned at the instance of the Rhondda District Council for exposing himself whilst suffering from an infectious disease on the 24th of June last. Mr W. P. Nicholas, solicitor, Pontypridd, conducted the prosecution on the Council's behalf. Sanitary Inspector Reed said he found defen- dant suffering from scarlet fever on the 19th August. He gave him instructions dealing with isolation, and also paid subsequent visits nad warned him. Defendant told him on the 24th that he was going to work the fol- lowing week. On the 25th he went away by train for a change of air, although he had been expressly warned not to do so owing to his infectious condition. Dr Herbert Jones, medical officer of the Council, said he had also warned defendant of the serious consequences which would result from exposure; notwithstanding this, he went to work on the 28th August. Dr Ivor Lewis told defendant he had ab- soli-telv no excuse whatever for his conduct. Defendant: Yes, I have. Dr Lewis: What is it? Defendant: I was not going to stop in the house to starve. Dr Hunter: The rule of this country is that no one need starve, but I don't want to argue with you. Dr Lewis pointed out to defendant that ap- parently he did not seem to understand the ser- iousness of his conduct. He also advised him to see Dr Parry upon his return home, because he seemed to be suffering then from the effects of his stupditiy. Defendant was fined £1 and costs. Letitia Rees, of Cymmer, was also fined 10b and costs for allowing her child to play with other boys whilst suffering from diphtheria. RESULT OF A FERNDALE TIMBERMAN'S SPREE. "Don't remember anything about it," is what Thomas Phillips, a Ferndale timberman told the magistrates. He was charged with vio- lently assaulting P.C.'s Brinaon and Adams whilst in a drunken condition. Phillips learnt to his cost that "absence of memory" was a poor excuse; in fact, the magistrates told him that such an excuse "was no good to them." Pro- bably Phillips thought the same when the amount of the fine was given. As is custom- ary in cases of the kind in which Phillips was now charged, he wanted to fight the best man in the Valley. P.C. Brinson landed on the scene when this challenge was thrown but as it is put in pugilistic parlance. Judging by tbe evidence Phillips, no doubt, thought he had the man he was in search of when P.C. Prinson confronted him; however, he unceremoniously planted Brinson a violent blow on the jaw. This oertainly was not a bad start, but the end was worse. Phillips changed his tactics, and tried the virtue of the toe of his hoot. All this had transpired before P.C. Adams came to the rescue. The sight of Adams seemed to have been too much for Phillips, who imme- diately told him to stand back or he would dw capitate him. "He was raving, you could hear him a mile eff," said P.C. Adams. After con- siderable trouble they landed their man at the Police Station, but they, had to carry him all the way. Phillips was now censured, and fined £ 2 for the assault and 5s for being drunk.

-'--'♦ Caerphilly --TueWay

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♦ Caerphilly --TueWay Before Mr David Davies, Dr Maurice G. Evans, Messrs Evar. Owen and William Thomas. William Thomas, landlord of the King Arms' Hotel, Caerphilly, was summoned for obstruct- ing the highway by leaving his cart on the Car. diff road, Caerphilly, for twelve hours. The case was again adjourned for a week at Mr Thomas's request. John Lloyd, sinker, Aber, was summoned by John Richards, Aber, for assaulting him on the 14th September. The evidence of the prosecu- tion was to the effect that the defendant went into the shop of a butcher named Lewis and there interfered with his business, endeavoured to pick a quarrel, and afterwards assaulted Richards. Lloyd alleged he was struck first, and called a witness to prove his statement. Defendant was, however, fined 10s, including costs. William Phillips and Walter Walters, tin- platers, of Pontypool, were sued at the Caer- philly Police Court on Tuesday by Mr Wynd- ham Thomas, the proprietor of the Waterloo tinplate works, Machen, for R5 each damages for leaving work without notice. Evidence was given by the manager, Mr Christopher Ballat, to the effect that the two men came from Pontypool to Machen in search of work. They were given work in the mills, and Phillips ob- tained an advance of C2 and Walters of El to enable them to remove their families to Mach- en. Phillips had since repaid 10s. They did not bring their families down; on the contrary, Walters left after having been working only a few days, and Philips after a few weeks, both without giving notice. By this action the men had caused considerable dislocation to the works, and loss to their fellow-workmen and employers. According to the rules in vogue at the works it was necessary for them to give 28 days' notice of their intention to leave. Phil- '"Ps was engaged as a doubler, and by staying away he caused one mill to be stopped for eight hours. By the absence of both Phillips and Walters one mill was stopped for a whole week. Had it been working the company would have turned out 600 boxes in the week at a pro- fit of R7 10s. In addition there was a loss of sre tons of ooal at 8s 6d per ton. The company had suffered a total loss of ZCIO, and claimed £5 damages from each of the men.—Walters said he had not intended to leave, but bad been ill. Further, he did not know what the rules were, as he had not received or seen a copy. Phillips's wife said her husband remained at Machen a long time, but when be found he could not earn more than 14s 6d per week, in- stead of £ 2, he returned to Pontypool. Judgment was given against the defendants for RS damages, the balance of the money ad- vanced, and costs. John Rowlands and William Hopkins, labour- ers, Senghenydd, were seen by P.S. Davies on tOO 13th September in Senghenydd fighting each other. Sergeant Davies reported the case to the Court, who bound the men over to keep the pface for six months and to pay the costs. The following were summoned for allowing dogs to be at large unmuzzled: —Wm. Thomas, collier, Senghenydd; John Jenkins, fireman Senghenydd; Thomas Morris, collier, Gilfach; Edward Turner, collier, Aber; Joseph Treasure, collier, Llanbradach; and William Parker, col- Her, Tirphil, was fined 2s 6d and costs

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—————————————— Sir Francis de Winton, G.C.M.G.. r of the Household to the Duke of York w on a visit to Sir John Williams, ;• tri.. Duchess's physician, at his Welsh "orne, the Plas, Llanstephan.